Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

"..." Xiangzi thought for a moment, then said in a hoarse voice, "It's a little warm."

“Then I am Xiao Xiang’s warm heart,” Deng said with a smile.

"Thank you, Lantern."

"Xiao Xiang, what did you say?"

"It's nothing, cough cough..."

......

The two stood at the school gate, which was sealed off, and were at a loss.

"How did you get in?" Xiangzi asked.

"Climb over the wall," the lamp replied.

Xiangzi was too lazy to ask how the lamp, who wasn't a magical girl, had climbed over such a high wall. Maybe she just found a hole that students used to skip school.

Helpless, they produced a pair of scissors and had the light cut the seal, allowing the two to squeeze out of the school gate. Luckily, it was dark enough that probably no one saw them.

Continuing to return in the direction they came from, Xiangzi still hadn't decided where to go.

I don't want to go back to Crychic's former teammates.

I don't want to go to RiNG to ask Kasumi Toyama.

Where else can we go? Let's go home.

Does she still have a home?

For the past six months, she has been living in internet cafes, the kind that only cost 500 yen a night, complete with clothes racks and showers—tiny little shelters specially prepared for homeless people like her.

It can even be used to play computer games.

It's really great, and the price-performance ratio is excellent.

But we absolutely cannot let Deng know that we're staying at an internet cafe; we need to think of another way.

Xiangzi found that his thinking speed had slowed down a lot, and he couldn't concentrate. His mind was filled with irrelevant trivial matters.

[漆II厁令思揪弃3]?〃师裙。 聊〉又要晕去去。

Blinding white light shone from their sides, along with the branches of the street trees, striking the wall and casting shadows that looked as if pierced by countless sharp spears.

Xiangzi squinted, raised his head, and looked in the direction from which the light was coming.

That was an advertising billboard.

"Xiao Xiang, what's wrong?" Deng asked.

She remembered that there was a billboard there before dark, playing pre-set advertisements on a loop when she passed by.

When I came over, it was playing a Sumimi commercial. I don't know if it was luck or what, but now it's Sumimi's turn again.

The images of two young girls slid onto the large screen: one with brown hair named Junta Mana, and the other with blonde hair holding a guitar, named...

"It's nothing, it's just that the people on the billboard..." Xiangzi said weakly, "...I happen to know them."

The vision grew increasingly dark.

"Chuhua..."

Before fading into darkness, Xiangzi spoke softly, as if in a dream.

"Hatsuka Mikami...she's a magical girl too..."

The other person in the advertisement is named Sanjiao Chuhua.

He was Xiangzi's best friend since childhood.

The Tale of Nirvana: Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Chapter 10 - Former Friends

Xiangzi woke up in an unfamiliar place and opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling.

No one can resist the feeling of relaxation after tense nerves are released, so the first thing Xiangzi did when he woke up was not to think about what had happened, but to feel...so comfortable.

I had a good sleep, it felt so good.

The second question is, what am I lying on?

It felt like a bed, with a soft mattress beneath her and a velvet blanket covering her. She vaguely remembered that feeling, but hadn't experienced it in a long time.

After confirming its situation through touch, the brain then generated the third question:

where is this?

"Unfamiliar ceiling."

It wasn't Xiangzi who spoke, but Qiu Bi.

"Xiangzi, you've been given a second chance at life."

"Go away."

Xiangzi got out of bed and flicked his finger, sending the chubby toy off the bedside table. Watching it hit the wall with a soft thud, his slightly depressed mood instantly improved.

It must be admitted that Kewpie is particularly effective as a stress-relieving toy.

She propped herself up, her forehead still throbbing, and the Soul Gem appeared in her palm.

The cracked Soul Gem became clear, with a turbidity of nearly 0%, and Xiangzi could even see things on the other side through the azure gem.

This level of filth requires three Seeds of Lamentation to completely purify. Who has such a grand gesture?

It couldn't be Takamatsu Akari; Akari must have taken her somewhere after she fainted. But where exactly...? Toyama Kasumi? Nagasaki Motoyo? Or...?

Squeak.

A girl with medium-length blonde hair walked into the room.

"You're awake, Xiangzi."

Xiangzi remembered what he had said before he lost consciousness.

...The initial bloom of the triangle.

She made friends with people on a small island in Okinawa when she was a child.

The Ryukyu Islands are located at the southernmost tip of Japan. That summer, my parents took Xiao Xiangzi to Ryukyu for a vacation. Their holiday home was on an island in that area with only one small village.

Chu Hua is the child of a local fisherman and an American. She has beautiful long blonde hair and fair, delicate skin, unlike the dark reddish skin of the local fishermen.

Although she is very pretty and cute, Chu Hua has a very strong "wild" personality. She often takes Xiang Zi to run around in the forest, catching rhinoceros beetles, butterflies, all sorts of strange insects, and even spiders...

Anyway, Xiangzi was always terrified.

Besides that, Chu Hua also loved to sing. At that time, Xiang Zi had been learning piano for four years. In the holiday home, she played the Greensleeves, which she had just learned, while Chu Hua sang beside her.

Chu Hua told her that her dream was to become a professional singer.

Xiangzi said, "I wish you success in realizing your dreams in the future."

The happy summers of her childhood left a deep impression on Chu Hua, but after her family spent two or three years in Ryukyu, they never went there for vacation again, and Xiangzi never contacted Chu Hua again.

To be honest, Xiangzi thought they would never see each other again. Many friendships are like that; once communication stops, they are never rekindled.

Xiangzi thought her relationship with Chuhua had come to an end, until a year ago, a social media account with the nickname "Triangle Chuhua" added her as a friend.

It took Xiangzi a long time to recall that the girl he got along with so well on the island was named Chuhua.

"Xiao Xiang, long time no see. I've decided to debut."

The first message turned out to be a bombshell.

Debuting means becoming a professional entertainer like her father, right?

Amazing.

"You're saying you're debuting? Really?!" Xiangzi replied.

"Well, my company told me not to tell anyone outside my family, but I want to tell you no matter what."

Since she is a professional entertainer, Chu Hua's work may be related to her father's work, so finding herself shouldn't be difficult.

"congratulations."

"You've become the professional singer you dreamed of as a child. Someone as positive and motivated as you will definitely succeed."

"I'm not sure if I can keep doing this," Chu Hua replied.

Xiangzi smiled, typed a line of text, and pressed send:

"I'm not worried at all, you can definitely do it."

"Thank you. Your words give me motivation."

This is the last sentence of Chu Hua's reply.

They lost contact after that.

Becoming a professional artist and still having to study kept Chu Hua very busy, and she never contacted Xiangzi again.

Xiangzi visited Chuhua's home once, but after many years of no contact, they had lost common ground, and the meeting was awkward. Afterwards, Xiangzi couldn't find anything to talk about with Chuhua, and eventually, he forgot about her.

It wasn't until Xiangzi heard Chuhua's name at the magical girl gathering that she realized that Chuhua hadn't approached Xiangzi as soon as she arrived at the Reed Plain.

She appeared in Ashihara as a magical girl, and together with a girl named Junda Mana, they made a name for themselves in Ashihara's livehouse as a magical girl band.

She was later scouted and became a professional entertainer.

At that time, Xiangzi was in her newbie phase, busy running around every day. Besides that, she practiced with her Crychic teammates. Her own little circle was very fixed, and she didn't know much about the larger circle of magical girls, so she missed out.

Unexpectedly, when I woke up again, I was at Chu Hua's house.

"Chuhua..."

"I'm here." Chu Hua pulled up a chair and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I...you..."

Xiangzi got stuck again, just like when they met a year ago.

She really didn't know what to say to Chu Hua.

Chu Hua glanced at the Soul Gem in Xiangzi's hand and took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Xiangzi, I'll get straight to the point."

"Ah."

"Your Soul Gem is in a dangerous condition, you know that?"

“Of course.” Xiangzi picked up the Soul Gem. “There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m already grateful to be alive.”

"What exactly happened? I've been looking for you for a long time after your family's accident. I never expected you to show up at the door by yourself, and... you even turned into a magical girl."

"sorry, I......"

Xiangzi turned the Soul Gem back into a ring and hugged his other arm.

"I do not want to say."

"..." Chu Hua closed her eyes and sighed, "I should apologize. This kind of thing is hard for anyone to accept."

"...It's okay, I'm used to it."

"..."

Chu Hua lowered her head.

Xiangzi simply stared at the Soul Gem in his hand.

The room fell silent once more, the air so thick it felt like it could drip water.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds.

Both of them looked like they wanted to say something but hesitated.

A minute passed.

"I'll go get you something to eat, you can rest a bit more." Chu Hua stood up, took out a cracked cell phone from her pocket, and handed it to Xiangzi. "And this, is this your phone? You left it by the door."

Xiangzi took the phone and nodded silently.

"Then I'll go out first."